Strategies for Getting Paid to Make Pictures

Menu

Uncategorized

Since Rebecca Sugar is one of the featured speakers at this spring’s MoCCA Fest, thought it was worth sharing 107 things about Steven Universe. (Um, thanks a lot folks for introducing me to Rebecca Sugar’s work. I got too much work to do to be sucked into the cartoon vortex!)

Bring in your artwork to help us see how you define yourself as a creative illustrator. It would be ideal if you included sketchbooks, original art and websites. We’ll have the gift of John Hendrix’s presence and insights.

“Payback” sounds so harsh. Let’s just say that class will begin with an unfettered and anonymous opportunity for you to tell me what you think about the class and my efforts as your teacher. Bring your laptop: you’ll go online and fill out the teacher evaluation. Take a few minutes to tell me in what ways does this class need to be improved and in what ways was it effective. Your specific insights and advice are most welcome.

Hand in everything still due: resumes, Schedule Cs, etc. On the Schedule C, where it mentions: Other Expenses and has about 10 blank lines? you can put in categories such as “Art Supplies” and “Printed Matter” and the like. Let’s face it, illustrators are not like lots of other freelancers and self-employed people. It is entirely legitimate and necessary to specify your particular costs as an artiste.

There will be a crit of your MoCCA product. I know many of you are choosing to roll into full production in the spring semester. Don’t be caught gobsmacked though and scrambling to make something in late March. Have your aesthetic resolved, your artwork done and your production technique known. This week we’ll see how far along you are.

Have your draft of your email campaign designed. Send it to me to look at and give feedback on before sending to the rest of the faculty (and your targeted contact list if you feel ready for that). Reminder: you’ll need links to your website from your email. The point of an email campaign is to drive traffic to your site.

If your full site is not yet up and running, you can use a blogging site such as Instagram, Tumblr or a Facebook page. All free. Make sure whatever site you use to promote your work is professional. WIP is fine, even desirable on a blog. However don’t include images of your roommates wearing underwear on their heads—unless it’s a gorgeous illustration of that scene.

Don’t forget to print out your final resumes and to have documented evidence of work on your website, even if not yet fully published. By the last class you’ll also need to hand in your MoCCA product and your Schedule C with the amounts of your work-related receipts. Fun, fun, fun.

We’ll get started on writing email campaigns. To prepare for class, choose an illustration that represents you well and any logotype or branding that you’ve done. Very tall vertical illustration’s don’t work so well in email windows. Your illo should be about 650-800 ppi, depending on the overall shape. Read about tips for writing effective emails: in short, make it short and sweet. We’ll go over some criteria and constraints and you can get started assembling your email in Mail Chimp during class.

Check out this interactive rate chart at Bonsai for freelancers. For myself, only the print design category applies. For illustrators, it’s well nigh meaningless… But for the designers amongst you, it might be interesting.